The summerwear garment convertible into a pouch has an upper torso garment and a lower torso garment. The lower torso garment has two-pockets. The upper torso garment is folded and placed into one of the two pockets for storage. The two pockets each have an open top side and three edges that are fixed to the side of the lower torso garment. Each pocket has corresponding zipper stringers bordering the three fixed side edges. When the zipper halves are mated, the three edges join together to form a pouch, the lower torso garment being folded between the pockets. The lower torso garment may be shorts or a mini-skirt, and the upper torso garment may be a cropped tank top or a halter top.
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1. A summerwear garment convertible into a pouch for storage and transport, comprising:
a lower torso garment having a front, a back and opposing sides, the lower torso garment being adapted for covering a lower portion of a human torso; a pair of rectangular pockets, each of the pockets having an open top edge, two side edges and a bottom edge with the two side edges and the bottom edge being attached to each of the sides of the lower torso garment; and mating halves of a zipper fastener continuously extending around only the two side edges and the bottom edge of said pockets, respectively; wherein the lower torso garment when the mating halves of the zipper fastener are joined and zipped around the two side edges and the bottom edge, the lower torso garment being folded between the pockets.
2. The summerwear garment according to
3. The summerwear garment according to
4. The summerwear garment according to
5. The summerwear garment according to
6. The summerwear garment according to
7. The summerwear garment according to
a front panel of fabric adapted for covering a chest, the front panel having an upper edge defining an upper channel and having opposing sides having guide channels formed therein; and a cord extending through the upper channel and having opposing ends crossing in back of the front panel and extending through the guide channels on the opposing sides and being tied together, thereby forming a halter top.
8. The summerwear garment according to
9. The summerwear garment according to
10. The summerwear garment according to
11. The summerwear garment according to
12. The summerwear garment according to
13. The summerwear garment according to
16. The summerwear garment according to
17. The summerwear garment according to
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to convertible garments, more particularly to an upper torso garment and lower torso garment that can be folded and converted into a self-contained pouch in order to be easy to use, carry and travel with.
2. Description of the Related Art
People who are enjoying the sun and the water usually are doing so on vacation or after having planned an outing at the beach or by the pool. In these situations, swimwear is the appropriate article of clothing to wear and, at times, it is the most amount of clothing worn. However, when off the beach, social mores, public rules and convention require people to cover up in public. For example, many restaurants require patrons to be clothed before entering their establishment. These minor distractions from the main purpose of the trip, which is to be in the sun or the water, require one to find garments to put on and cover up the body.
Covering up should be effortless and as easy as possible, in order to make the transition from on-beach to off-beach attire quick. However, most outer garments are bulky, and it is an inconvenience to carry them to the beach. It is often an annoyance to have to go back to one's hotel or motel room to change into outer garments. The transition is further made difficult by cover up apparel that absorb water and sun tan lotion.
Many women and young girls like to wear bikinis or two piece bathing suits at the beach or pool. In recent years, thong bikinis have become popular. While fashionable at the beach, such outfits are inappropriate for wear on the public streets. Some modest form of lightweight outer garment, such as a pair of shorts or a mini-skirt with a matching top, which can be folded into a small pouch not much larger than the palm of the hand for storage and transport, would be desirable. It is further desirable that the garment be fashionable, and appropriate for summerwear or activewear.
Further, in order to maximize space during travel, articles of clothing that are multifunctional or that can be easily folded and carried are desirable. Convertible garments have been developed which convert clothing for the lower body to clothing for the upper body, to convert long garments into shorter garments, to convert pants to skirts and even jackets into bags.
French Patent Number 2,589,334, published on May 7, 1987, describes a jacket that is convertible into a bag. The jacket is converted into a purse by two pockets that are zippered on all four edges. The purse provides a zippered pocket on the purse's external panel and it has a strap to hold the purse across the wearer's body. French Patent Number 2,819,384 published on Jul. 19, 2002, describes a convertible first garment having a pouch to hold a second outwear garment that can be worn over the first garment.
A number of convertible articles of clothing have been developed that allow the article to be used for more than one purpose. U.S. Patent Publication Number 2002/0088047, published on Jul. 11, 2002, describes a convertible article of clothing that can be worn either on the upper body or the lower body. U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,125, issued to Palumbo on Aug. 15, 1978 describes a skirt or dress that can be converted into shorts or pants, and vice versa, by joining front and rear panels at the crotch region.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,892, issued to Tisdale et al. on Jul. 7, 1998, describes convertible clothing that uses zippers to transform pants and long-sleeved shirts into shorts and short-sleeve shirts, respectively. European Patent Number EP 1,149,539, published on Oct. 31, 2001, describes a trouser that is convertible into a skirt by selectively fastening vertical edges of the leg sleeves.
Jackets that convert into other articles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,377, issued to Mayer et al. on Aug. 1, 1978 (parka that doubles as a sleeping bag); U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,833, issued to Kuo on Oct. 6, 1998 (three in one article that converts to a sleeping bag, a jacket and a carrying bag); U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,629, issued to Itoi on Sep. 7, 1982 (jacket that can be converted into a bag); U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,111, issued to Lieberman on Nov. 24, 1992 (jacket integrated into a back pack and used in conjunction with the backpack while it is worn); U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,164, issued to Johnson on Jan. 19, 1999 (multi-purpose garment convertible into a tote-bag or back-pack); U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,377, issued to Davis on Jun. 18, 2002 (jacket convertible into a tote-bag or back-pack).
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a summerwear garment convertible into a pouch solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The summerwear garment convertible into a pouch is a pair of shorts or a mini-skirt which is convertible into a pouch, together with a matching top which can be folded and stored in a pocket on the shorts or skirt in order to be easy to use, carry and travel with. The shorts or skirt has a pair of matching pockets on opposite sides. The two pockets each have an open top side and three edges that are fixed to the sides of the lower torso garment. Each pocket has corresponding zipper stringers bordering the three fixed side edges. When the zipper stringers are mated, the three edges of both pockets abut the other to form a pouch containing the folded lower torso garment and the upper torso garment. Women would use the lower torso garment and the upper torso garment combination; if desired, men could use the lower torso garment alone, or also in combination with a top.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a summerwear garment convertible into a pouch that is small and easy to carry and travel with.
It is another object of the invention to provide a summerwear garment convertible into a pouch that is thin and flexible enough to be folded into a pouch to take up very little space so it can be easy to carry and travel with.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a summerwear garment convertible into a pouch that is quick-drying and wrinkle-free.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a summerwear garment convertible into a pouch that is fashionable and easy to use.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The present invention is a summerwear garment convertible into a pouch, designated generally as 20 in the drawings, as shown in
As seen in
The shorts 20b may be formed in a variety of ways, for example, the shorts 20b may be formed by a left panel and a right panel joined by front and rear seams and by inseams along the left and right leg sleeves 28. Alternatively, the left and right panels may be further formed by front and rear portions joined by side seams, so that the lower torso garment comprises left front, left rear, right front, and right rear panels. Still further, instead of left and right panels, in some embodiments the shorts 20b may be formed solely by front and back panels joined by side seams.
The tank top 20a has a neck opening 23a and shoulder straps 21a. The shoulder straps 21a are preferably of the type known as "finger" straps or "spaghetti" straps, and may be formed by a single cord that is looped through seams disposed on front and back panels of the tank top 20a, exiting at the ends of the front and back panels to form the shoulder straps 21a, and having opposite ends of the cord exit the seams at the front of the neck opening 23a. This allows the cord forming the shoulder straps to be loosened or tightened as required to adjust for chest size. The ends of the cord may be formed into a bow for decorative effect.
The midriff of the tank top 20a is cropped off, so that the torso opening 23b encircles the upper torso and ends just below the bust line for females, or just below the pectorals for men, exposing the "abs" (abdominal muscles). The cord forming the shoulder straps 21 has two free ends 21b. One end 21b of the cord is inserted through a small opening on the center front seam of the neck opening to be threaded through one side of the front seam to the back seam, and returns to be threaded to the other side of the front seam of the neck opening 23a. The shoulder straps 21a are adjustable by either pulling the free ends 21b out of the seams to reduce the amount of strap 21a exposed on the shoulder or by lengthening the shoulder strap 21a and reducing the length of the free ends 21b exposed. By adjusting the amount of strap 21a used over the shoulders, the wearer is able to determine where the waist opening 23b will stop on the midriff and how much of the midriff region will be exposed. Once the appropriate shoulder strap 21a length is reached, the wearer ties the free ends of the strap 21b on the front panel of the neck opening 23a to form a bow.
To return the summerwear 20 to its closed pouch configuration 20, top 20a is folded and inserted into one of the pockets, as shown in
In an alternative embodiment, the upper torso garment is formed as a halter top 120a, as seen in
Also, instead of shorts, the lower garment may be a mini-skirt.
The mini-skirt 120b has two rectangular pockets 130 positioned on its sides. Each pocket 130 has a tie 124 disposed on the open top side of each pocket 130 to constrict the opening of the pockets 130. The other three sides of each pocket 130 are sewn to the mini-skirt 120b. The three consecutive fixed edges of pockets 130 are trimmed with zipper stringers 122. The alternative embodiment of the summerwear is arranged into the closed pouch 120 configuration by mating male zipper track 122a to female zipper track 122b, using zipper tab 122c, and folding the mini-skirt 120b similar to the folding and tucking procedure used with the preferred embodiment.
The summerwear 20, 120 is preferably constructed using fabrics conventionally used with sports garments, such as polyester or polyamides, such as nylon; however other thin material can be used as well, such as silk or rayon. The fabric used can also be wrinkle-free and quick drying, since it is folded into a pouch and typically worn over a bathing suit. The importance of using thin material is to facilitate the folding and pleating of the garments within the pockets to allow the zippers tracks 22 and 122 to mate and close the invention into a pouch 20, 120, as well as for making the garment lightweight.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
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